SEIV via Steam

deccan · #1 January 11th, 2006, 05:43 AM

Hey there, scanned the forum but didn't see this get mentioned, so maybe I'm first, but it looks like SEIV is getting distribution via Valve's Steam now. I guess you guys might want to look for a fresh stream of new arrivals.

Steam News

Fyron · #2 January 11th, 2006, 05:53 AM

There was a lot of discussion about Steam here.

boran_blok · #3 January 11th, 2006, 07:01 PM

like holy fsck. seriously.

I guess that kind of makes it rather certain SEV will be on steam too.

valve is like becoming a new haven for indie games it seems. (just look at what else they got to offer, that kungfu game, darwinia, etc)

Arkcon · #4 January 11th, 2006, 10:00 PM

We'll really just have to wait and see how SE5 will be implemented. If it uses STEAM at the outset, it might, after a couple of years, see the release of a STEAM-free version.

douglas · #5 January 11th, 2006, 10:33 PM

From a few posts down in the thread Fyron linked to:

Malfador said:
Thanks for the lengthy/thorough post. Not to worry, the CD version of the game does not require Steam to play. We�re only using it as a distribution channel at this point.

I would not expect this to change for SEV, and I would expect it to be only one of several distribution channels.

Tough Guy · #6 January 12th, 2006, 12:48 PM

Can someone confirm whether steam is necessary for a single player game.

I travel a lot for business and play SEIV non stop while in the air, without an internet connection.

If this won't work I will not buy the game which would suck. I am hoping the STEAM stuff works itself out.

geoschmo · #7 January 12th, 2006, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Tough Guy said:

Can someone confirm whether steam is necessary for a single player game.

The quote from Malfador in the post just before yours confirmed it is not.

Arkcon · #8 January 12th, 2006, 01:59 PM

geoschmo said:
The quote from Malfador in the post just before yours confirmed it is not.

I suppose the question, for me and maybe some other people, is if Malfador's contract with Strategy First, or Valve would ever force Malfador to require STEAM for the game to function, maybe even going as fas as to shutdown the PBW site, or even remove play-by-email from the game code.

I don't remember the exact name, but some people made some sort of Linux port of Warcraft, that used some sort of alternate network, distinct from Battlenet, for multiplayer gaming. It required a functioning Windows copy of Warcraft to run, and since Battlenet has no charge they were kinda claiming that it wasn't infriging on Blizzard's rights -- they were just createing a separate network to save bandwidth and allow Linux users to play their favorite DOS game.

Blizzard, understandably, were not pleased at the loss of control, if not income, and came down hard on these hippie, commie, open-source, wacko, liberal nerds.

People have strong feelings about issues like this. And sometimes even a straight answer isn't enough to ally suspicions. I like to maintain a calm "wait'n see" attitude to the issue.

geoschmo · #9 January 12th, 2006, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Arkcon said:
I suppose the question, for me and maybe some other people, is if Malfador's contract with Strategy First, or Valve would ever force Malfador to require STEAM for the game to function, maybe even going as fas as to shutdown the PBW site, or even remove play-by-email from the game code.

I cannot even imagine a set of circumstances that would have that as the end result. But I suppose if it were to happen we could just roll the PBW server back to only supporting version 1.91 and before. Since that was published by Shrapnel I can't see that SF or Valve would have any say in whether people could use PBW for that.

I'm not even sure Malfador or Shrapnel could legally force PBW to stop allowing players to play even if they were taken over by evil mind-controlling aliens who had it in for us. I'm pretty sure we are well within the boundaries of "fair-use". Of course if a publisher were to take a little fan-run site like PBW to court the side with the money would probably win, regardless of what was actually legally correct.

Fyron · #10 January 12th, 2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Arkcon said:
I suppose the question, for me and maybe some other people, is if Malfador's contract with Strategy First, or Valve would ever force Malfador to require STEAM for the game to function, maybe even going as fas as to shutdown the PBW site, or even remove play-by-email from the game code.

Aaron has specifically said that SE5 will not require Steam to play...